If there’s a shining light in the Australian economy right now, it’s the jobs market

Australia’s jobs market remains a bright spot for the economy. Some may even say it’s the only bright spot. Online job vacancies hit the highest level in nearly seven years last month, suggesting that hiring will remain firm in the months ahead. Australia’s January jobs report will be released on Thursday. It’s expected to be pretty good. If there’s a shining light in the Australian economy right now, it has to be the jobs market. In comparison to other recent data, some may even describe it as the only shining light for the economy. Even the RBA — well known for taking a glass-half-full view on things — acknowledged just how resilient recent jobs data has been in comparison to other indicators. “Members noted the continued improvement in conditions in the labour market and that the labour market data had been stronger than other data on economic activity,” it said at its February monetary policy meeting. “Employment had continued to grow faster than the working-age population in the December quarter, with most of this growth in full-time employment. “The unemployment rate had declined to 5% which was the lowest rate since 2011.” Even with the deterioration in other economic data, it also remained positive towards the outlook for hiring in the months ahead. “Forward-looking indicators had been consistent with above-average employment growth over the first half of 2019,” it said. Based on the latest Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) released by the Australian government, recent labour market trends, and the RBA’s… [Read full story]